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A surprising bit of post-election news has cheered Republicans and dismayed many Democrats. Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal, is planning to run for House Minority Leader.

Ms. Pelosi was widely expected to resign from the House following the drubbing her troops took in the midterm elections. This is what her predecessors as Speaker, Dennis Hastert, R-Ill, and Newt Gingrich, D-Ga, did after they stepped down.

It would seem especially prudent for Ms. Pelosi to follow their example, because she is the most unpopular figure in American politics today. In a poll conducted in late October for NBC and the Wall Street Journal, only eight percent of independents approved of the job she was doing.

Some of the Democrats in the House who lost Nov. 2 have sent a letter to Ms. Pelosi urging her not to run for minority leader.

"Many of us want to run again and reclaim the seats that we lost on Tuesday," the letter said. "With you as the leader of House Democrats, the hangover of 2010 stands no chance of subsiding."

The house organ of the Democratic party, the New York Times, also was alarmed:

That job (minority leader) is not a good match for her abilities in maneuvering legislation and trading votes, since Democrats will no longer be passing bills in the House," the Times' editors wrote Monday. "What they need is what Ms. Pelosi has been unable to provide: a clear and convincing voice to help Americans understand that Democratic policies are not bankrupting the country, advancing socialism or destroying freedom."

Meanwhile, Republicans are almost giddy at the prospect of having Ms. Pelosi as the face of Democrats in the House for two more years. Bill Kristol of the conservative Weekly Standard wrote a tongue in cheek editorial endorsing her. Staffers at the Republican National Committee hung a huge "Hire Pelosi" banner from the top of their building.

Ms. Pelosi is 71. She's been in Congress for 23 years, so she's entitled to a mammoth pension. Her husband is a multi-millionaire. She doesn't need the job. So why does she cling to it so desperately?

Power in Washington evidently is so seductive those who have been there a long time will shed any semblance of dignity to hang onto it.

Consider Sen. Arlen Specter. Last year he realized he was likely to lose a GOP primary to Sen.-elect Pat Toomey. Mr. Specter was 79, and in poor health. He was first elected to the Senate in 1980. The thing to do was to retire with his dignity and reputation intact. Instead, he switched parties, and his political career ended with the humiliation of being defeated by Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary.

Others could profit from the examples of Sen. Specter and Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. Mr. Bennett, 77, has served in the Senate for 18 years. Despite clear signs that Republicans in Utah wanted someone younger and more conservative, he ran for renomination for a fourth term -- and finished third.

Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind, has served in the Senate since 1977. In 2012, when his current term ends, Mr. Lugar will be 80 years old. Like Utah Republicans this year, Indiana Republicans are likely to want someone younger and more conservative. (Sen. Lugar has a lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union of 77 percent; but only 68 percent last year, 63 percent the year before.)

Another who should consider retiring with his dignity intact is Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. He's been in the Senate as long as Dick Lugar, and will be 78 when his term expires in 2012. He's been more conservative than Mr. Lugar (he has a lifetime ACU rating of 88 percent), but polls suggest Utahans think he's been in Washington long enough.

It isn't only those who have been in Washington for a long time who tend to conflate the advancement of their political careers with the welfare of the country. In his relentless pursuit of a seat in the U.S. Senate, changed his position on every major issue -- sometimes several times. This was (fortunately) not enough to stave off humiliating defeat.

Character isn't determined by how long you have been in Washington. But it does seem to be influenced by it. It was said of the missionaries in Hawaii that they came to do good, and stayed to do well. The same could be said for lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, who came to Washington a poor man, but is now a multi-millionaire.

We cannot restore the republic our forefathers intended unless we limit the terms of Members of Congress, and limit also their ability to sell favors.

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